Portraits of a pandemic

Outdoor photo exhibit offers ‘Local Testimony’ of 2020 events

Annual exhibition moves outside for viewers to see gripping images by local photojournalists

By Jessica Steinberg
  • Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
 20 December 2020, 6:13 pm
Eric Sultan's photo of a ship caught in a storm on the Ashdod coast, part of the 'Local Testimony' photo exhibit, opening December 24, 2020 in Tel Aviv (Courtesy 'Local Testimony')
For the exhibit 'Local Testimony,' opening December 24 in Tel Aviv, 'Lockdown and can't leave the house, April 2020, by Avigail Uzi for Yediot Achronot (Courtesy 'Local Testimony')
Gil Eliahu Biniat's photo of cattle and IDF tanks in the Golan Heights in July 2020, part of the 'Local Testimony' photo exhibit, opening December 24, 2020 in Tel Aviv (Courtesy 'Local Testimony')
Guy Yehieli's photo of Tel Aviv halted in the midst of the April coronavirus lockdown, part of the 'Local Testimony' photo exhibit, opening December 24, 2020 in Tel Aviv (Courtesy 'Local Testimony')
Vered Sadot's photo 'ZOOMING,' part of the 'Local Testimony' photo exhibit, opening December 24, 2020 in Tel Aviv (Courtesy 'Local Testimony')
Yuval Daniel Ohadi's photo of Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer fans watching a practice during the coronavirus, part of the 'Local Testimony' photo exhibit, opening December 24, 2020 in Tel Aviv (Courtesy 'Local Testimony')
Ofer Vaknin's photo of jackals taking over Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park during the coronavirus lockdown, part of the 'Local Testimony' photo exhibit, opening December 24, 2020 in Tel Aviv (Courtesy 'Local Testimony')
Raanan Cohen's photo of protestors outside the prime minister's home in Jerusalem in July 2020, part of the 'Local Testimony' photo exhibit, opening December 24, 2020 in Tel Aviv (Courtesy 'Local Testimony')
Sharon Avraham's photo at Jerusalem's Paris Square, site of July 2020 demonstrations and the reenactment of the 'Liberty Leading the People' painting by Eugène Delacroix, commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, part of the 'Local Testimony' photo exhibit, opening December 24, 2020 in Tel Aviv (Courtesy 'Local Testimony')

Hundreds of local photographers are taking part in this year’s “Local Testimony,” an annual photojournalism event, which is opening December 24 and being exhibited outdoors.

The free exhibition is intended to give photographers, videographers and photojournalists the opportunity to bear witness to the events of the last 12 months.

“Local Testimony” is usually exhibited in the Eretz Israel Museum but this year is being displayed in Midtown Tel Aviv, a complex of commercial and residential buildings in the city’s center.

The photographs will be exhibited along 2,321 meters of open space, beginning near the Hashalom train station, at 144 Begin Road, and extending north toward the Arlozorov train station.

For the exhibit ‘Local Testimony,’ opening December 24 in Tel Aviv, ‘Lockdown and can’t leave the house, April 2020, by Avigail Uzi for Yediot Achronot (Courtesy ‘Local Testimony’)

The exhibition is intended to offer the big picture of Israeli life over the course of the last year, with 2020 offering a set of unique and historic challenges, including the pandemic, political uncertainty and multiple elections, weekly demonstrations countrywide against the government and the struggles of average Israelis to survive an unusual year.

Ilan Ben Yehuda’s photo of Charles Clore Park in Tel Aviv, June 2020 for the ‘Local Testimony’ photo exhibit in Tel Aviv, opening December 24, 2020 (Courtesy Local Testimony)

“Local Testimony” will remain in place for a month, through January.

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